Phrasal Verbs List: 120 Essential Phrasal Verbs with Meanings and Examples

This is the complete phrasal verbs list you have been looking for. Below you will find 120 essential phrasal verbs organised by their main verb — GET, TAKE, GO, PUT, LOOK, COME, GIVE, BRING, MAKE, TURN, RUN, BREAK, FALL, SET, and more — each with its meaning and an example sentence.

If you are new to phrasal verbs and want to understand how they work before diving into the list, read the full guide: What Are Phrasal Verbs?

How to Use This Phrasal Verbs List

Do not try to memorise every entry at once. Choose one section (for example, phrasal verbs with GET), study five phrasal verbs, use each one in your own sentence, and come back tomorrow for five more. Small daily sessions beat marathon study every time. The list is also a useful reference tool — bookmark this page and return to it whenever you encounter an unfamiliar phrasal verb.

Phrasal Verbs with GET

• get up — wake up and leave bed | "I get up at 6:30 every morning."

• get on — enter a bus/train; make progress | "How are you getting on with your studies?"

• get off — leave a bus/train; stop work | "We get off at the next stop."

• get over — recover from illness or difficulty | "She is still getting over the break-up."

• get by — manage with limited money or resources | "We can get by on one salary for now."

• get away — escape; go on holiday | "We need to get away for a few days."

• get away with — do something wrong without punishment | "He always gets away with being late."

• get along with — have a good relationship with | "I get along well with my neighbours."

• get rid of — remove or dispose of something | "It is time to get rid of these old files."

• get through — finish; successfully contact someone | "I could not get through to the helpline."

• get back — return; receive something back | "When will you get back from Madrid?"

• get ahead — make progress; be more successful than others | "Working late helped her get ahead."

• get across — communicate an idea clearly | "She struggled to get her point across."

• get into — enter; become interested in | "He has really got into cycling recently."

• get out of — avoid a responsibility; exit a vehicle | "She is trying to get out of the meeting."

Check out this video that teaches English phrasal verbs with "get"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AsspZcwurwg

Phrasal Verbs with TAKE

• take off — leave the ground; remove clothing | "The flight takes off at noon."

• take on — accept work or responsibility; hire someone | "We have taken on three new clients."

• take up — start a hobby; occupy time or space | "I have just taken up swimming."

• take over — assume control of something | "She took over the project when he left."

• take out — remove; go somewhere socially | "He took her out for dinner on Friday."

• take back — return something; withdraw a statement | "Can I take back what I said earlier?"

• take after — resemble a family member | "She takes after her mother in every way."

• take in — absorb information; deceive someone | "The scam took in thousands of people."

• take apart — disassemble something | "He took the engine apart to find the fault."

• take down — write something down; demolish | "Can you take down the address for me?"

  
  

Phrasal Verbs with GO

• go on — continue; happen | "What is going on in there?"

• go out — leave the house; stop burning | "The fire went out in the night."

• go over — review or check something | "Let us go over the main points again."

• go through — experience something difficult; check carefully | "She went through a very hard year."

• go back — return to a place or time | "We went back to the same hotel this year."

• go ahead — proceed; give permission | "Go ahead — we are ready to start."

• go off — explode; stop working; food goes bad | "The alarm went off at five in the morning."

• go down — decrease; sink | "Prices have gone down since last month."

• go up — increase; be built | "Rents have gone up again."

• go with — match or suit something | "That tie does not go with your shirt."

Phrasal Verbs with PUT

• put off — postpone; cause reluctance | "Stop putting off the hard conversations."

• put up with — tolerate | "I cannot put up with this noise any longer."

• put on — wear something; gain weight; stage a performance | "Put on a coat — it is freezing."

• put away — return something to its place | "Please put away your phone during class."

• put out — extinguish; inconvenience someone | "The firefighters put out the blaze quickly."

• put across — express an idea clearly | "She put her argument across very convincingly."

• put down — insult someone; write something; euthanise an animal | "Stop putting yourself down."

• put up — raise; accommodate someone | "We can put you up for the night."

• put in — install; submit formally; invest time | "He put in twelve hours yesterday."

• put back — return something; delay | "The meeting has been put back until Thursday."

  
  

Phrasal Verbs with LOOK

• look up — search for information | "I will look it up in the dictionary."

• look after — take care of | "Can you look after the children this afternoon?"

• look forward to — anticipate with pleasure | "I am looking forward to the weekend."

• look into — investigate | "We are looking into the cause of the delay."

• look out — be careful | "Look out — there is a hole in the pavement."

• look down on — consider inferior | "Never look down on people who are learning."

• look up to — admire | "She looks up to her older sister enormously."

• look back on — reflect on the past | "Looking back on it, it was the right choice."

• look over — examine something quickly | "Can you look over this report for me?"

• look through — examine carefully; ignore deliberately | "He looked through me as if I was not there."

  
  

Phrasal Verbs with COME

• come up — be mentioned; arise unexpectedly | "Something has come up — I cannot make it."

• come up with — produce an idea or solution | "Who came up with this plan?"

• come across — find by chance; give an impression | "She comes across as very confident."

• come back — return | "When are you coming back from Paris?"

• come down with — become ill with | "I think I am coming down with a cold."

• come out — be published or released; be revealed | "The report came out last Tuesday."

• come round — regain consciousness; change your opinion | "He came round about an hour after surgery."

• come through — survive a difficult situation | "She came through the operation well."

• come off — succeed; fall from something | "Did the interview come off well?"

• come in — enter; arrive; become fashionable | "Come in — the door is open."

  
  

Phrasal Verbs with GIVE

• give up — stop trying; abandon a habit | "Never give up on something you care about."

• give away — give for free; reveal a secret | "He gave away the ending of the film."

• give in — stop resisting; submit | "After hours of arguing, he gave in."

• give out — distribute; stop working | "Her voice gave out after two hours of singing."

• give back — return something | "Please give back the book when you have finished."

• give off — emit heat, light, or a smell | "The candle gives off a lovely scent."

• give rise to — cause or produce something | "The delay gave rise to a lot of complaints."

  
  

Phrasal Verbs with BRING

• bring up — raise a child; mention a topic | "She was brought up in the south of France."

• bring about — cause something to happen | "The reforms brought about real change."

• bring in — introduce; earn money | "The new policy was brought in last year."

• bring back — return something; revive a memory | "That song brings back so many memories."

• bring out — produce something; emphasise a quality | "Travel really brings out her confidence."

• bring down — reduce; cause to fall | "The scandal brought down the government."

• bring forward — move to an earlier time | "Can we bring the meeting forward to Tuesday?"

  
  

Phrasal Verbs with MAKE

• make up — invent a story; apply cosmetics; reconcile | "Stop making things up."

• make out — see or hear with difficulty; manage | "I can just make out her handwriting."

• make off with — steal and escape | "Thieves made off with the entire display."

• make up for — compensate for something | "I will make it up to you, I promise."

• make do with — manage with something inadequate | "We will have to make do with what we have."

• make for — move towards; contribute to | "The warm colours make for a cosy atmosphere."

  
  

Phrasal Verbs with TURN

• turn up — arrive; increase volume; be discovered | "She turned up an hour late."

• turn down — decline; decrease volume | "He turned down the job offer."

• turn out — result in; attend; produce | "Everything turned out better than expected."

• turn into — become something different | "The argument turned into a full-scale row."

• turn off — switch off; cause disinterest | "Turn off the lights when you leave."

• turn on — switch on; depend on | "The decision turns on one key factor."

• turn back — return to the start | "Bad weather forced them to turn back."

  
  

Phrasal Verbs with RUN

• run out of — have no more of something | "We have run out of coffee again."

• run into — meet someone by chance; collide | "I ran into an old colleague this morning."

• run over — drive over something; review quickly | "Let us run over the agenda one more time."

• run away — escape; flee | "As a child he used to run away from arguments."

• run through — practise; explain quickly | "Can you run through the key points again?"

• run up — accumulate; approach quickly | "She ran up a large credit card bill."

  
  

Phrasal Verbs with BREAK

• break down — stop working; lose emotional control | "The car broke down on the motorway."

• break up — end a relationship; end a meeting | "They broke up after three years together."

• break out — escape; start suddenly | "A fire broke out in the west wing."

• break in — interrupt; enter illegally; wear in new shoes | "Thieves broke in while we were away."

• break through — overcome a barrier | "The team broke through after years of research."

• break off — end something suddenly | "She broke off the engagement last spring."

  
  

Phrasal Verbs with SET

• set up — establish; prepare equipment | "They set up the company in 2018."

• set off — begin a journey; trigger an alarm | "We set off early to avoid the traffic."

• set back — delay; cost someone money | "The renovation set them back £20,000."

• set out — begin a journey; arrange; explain | "She set out her argument very clearly."

• set in — begin and become established | "Panic was beginning to set in."

• set aside — save for later; ignore temporarily | "Can we set that issue aside for now?"

  
  

Phrasal Verbs with FALL

• fall out — quarrel; drop out | "She fell out with her best friend over money."

• fall for — be deceived by; fall in love with | "I completely fell for the trick."

• fall apart — disintegrate; lose emotional control | "The plan fell apart at the last minute."

• fall back on — use as a last resort | "Luckily, she had her savings to fall back on."

• fall behind — fail to keep up | "He fell behind with his rent payments."

• fall through — fail to happen | "The deal fell through at the last minute."

  
  

How to Practise the Phrasal Verbs on This List

Reading a phrasal verbs list is useful, but it is only the first step. To actually remember and use phrasal verbs, you need to do something active with them. Here are three techniques that work.

• Write your own example sentence for every new phrasal verb you learn. Your own sentence, not the one from the list. This forces you to process the meaning rather than just read it.

• Use new phrasal verbs in conversation within 24 hours of seeing them. The act of retrieving and using a word is what moves it from short-term to long-term memory.

• Review with spaced repetition. Return to this list after one day, then three days, then a week. Each time, cover the meaning column and test yourself.

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